Famous Last Words for Week 7

After this week, I am absolutely exhausted.  It's soon to be midterm week and I guess this semester it started a little early for me. 

On Monday through Thursday I was hurriedly finishing homework assignments before OU/Texas weekend.  I had way too many and it was just especially hard to not procrastinate and try to get ahead.

This year I didn't spend my OU/Texas weekend in Dallas but in Houston!  I know it sounds pretty bizarre and I really was bummed to miss out on the fair, the game (even though we lost) and all other OU/Texas festivities.  I went to Houston with my parents and my sister drove over from Austin, Texas because my dad was playing in the Spirit International Golf tournament.  It was also my sister's 27th birthday and this is a way we could all spend it together. 

 (Picture of the Whispering Pines golf course where  my dad played at from the Dallas News.)

Ever since I came to college in Norman it's been hard for my entire family to be together.  We all live in different cities now so all four of us are only in the same place about 4 to 5 times a year.  It was great to all be together and be in such a fun city.  I was actually born in the Houston area so one day we drove out to my old neighborhood and I got to literally stroll down memory lane.  It was amazing to see the parks and neighbors I played with as a kid.  These kinds of things are so much more important to me now that I'm about to be an adult. 

Then on Sunday I flew back to Oklahoma.  Don't think that I avoided the traffic by avoiding Dallas during OU/Texas weekend because my normally less than two hour drive back from Tulsa took about 3 hours. 

Extra Reading Diary: Czech Folktales

This is a Reading Diary that details my thoughts of the first section of the Czech Folktales unit. Story source: The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922).

• There's a story my family tells that is VERY similar to the beginning of this one.  
• This cape sounds a lot like the invisibility cloak!
• Things really did work out for Sleepy John.  But how could he enjoy his kingdom if he was always sleeping?
•  Burgomaster?  Like Hamburgermaster?  
• Of course the cat was a beautiful woman.  Obviously. 
• I love the line "if they haven't died since, they are still reigning."
• I like the difference of the woman going to the castle to get roses rather than simply taking shelter.  
• She cuts off his head to turn him into the prince ???????
• This story must be the origin for evil twins in soap operas.  

(The Rose from Pinterest.)

Storytelling for Week 3: The Princess and the Beggar

Once upon a time there was a princess who lived in a glorious kingdom.  One day it came time for her to choose her husband and the King was growing anxious.  The suitors were lined outside the palace waiting for the princess to give them an answer.  However, the princess was worried.  She had the worst luck out of anyone she had ever met.  She was terrified making the biggest decision of her life while in her entire life going with her gut has only lead to bad luck. 

With her father’s growing impatience he had all the suitor’s assemble before the throne and it came time for the princess to choose the new king.  The princess decided to throw a red ball of silk and whoever caught it would become her husband. 

Just as she was about to release the ball she noticed a beggar in the midst of all the royal suitors.  Something flashed by his ear and the princess no longer doubted her choosing ability.  The beggar had the dragon of luck circling him and as the yin to his yang she was the only one who could see the spirit of luck within him.  The princess tossed the ball directly to him and he had no trouble catching it. 

After seeing his daughter toss the fate of the throne into the hands of a beggar the king erupted: “Why did you throw the ball to a beggar when you have suitors from the finest families in China?” 

“I have never felt so sure about anything in my life.  I know that he is my equal because all my life people have joked that the ill-fortuned dragon has followed me.  I never believed them until I saw it’s other half in the beggar.  I will marry him and perhaps share in his good luck.” 

The irony was not lost on the beggar, who had struggled to find food that morning and was now a king.  Initially the king would not let the couple live in his palace because he could not stand the thought of his successor being a peasant.  However, when the beggar and princess lived in exile he soon found his fortune and became emperor of a neighboring kingdom. 

To avenge his wife the new emperor conquered the kingdom for his princess and instantly restored her to the throne.  So the exiled princess who never had good fortune became queen at the hands of a beggar.  

 (Book Cover Images.)

Author's Note:  I wanted to give a little more detail about the princess's choice when she decided to marry the beggar.  The concept of luck is so fascinating and that's why I decided to throw in some yin and yang references.  Sorry if the ending felt rushed but in the end the beggar becomes emperor on his own and restores his queen.  

Biography: This story is part of the Chinese Fairy Tales unit. Story source: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

Reading Diary B: Chinese Fairytales

This is a Reading Diary that details my thoughts of the second section of the Chinese Fairy Tales unit. Story source: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

• I liked the first story.  It's basically saying that even though the scholar wants to be alone, he can't be content with at least someone by his side. 
• Fox preparing the elixir of life?  Who knew.
• I guess the fox just lent it to him.  
• I feel like some of these stories could be used as scary stories!
• LOL that the girl gets swept away by a tornado and the guy takes it as heaven bringing them together.  
• I feel like women are often the ogres in disguise...
• Sorcerer's are pretty tricky.... Get it... Ok I will see myself out.   
• This section's stories are significantly more depressing.  

 

(River landscape by Liu Chih from the UnTextbook)

Reading Diary A: Chinese Fairy Tales

This is a Reading Diary that details my thoughts of the first section of the Chinese Fairy Tales unit. Story source: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

• What is the point of the daughter throwing the ball if she can choose who to throw it to?  I thought she was leaving this up to chance.  Close your eyes and throw the dang ball!
• I guess dragons are a sign of good luck ?
• I wonder what kind of luck their child would have had?  Ill or good?  
• The story about the panther is super similar to Little Red Riding Hood.
• That was the most complicated way to kill a panther that I've ever seen.  
• I love when animals all work together.  
• Aw well that didn't last long.  
• I love picturing a moon world.  
• Is it bad that I can't stop thinking about Sailor Moon?
• That horse traveled all the way to get you and that's how you treat it!!!
• Did not see her living in heaven watching over silkworms as the ending...
• It's strange that the Master of Peace and the Master of War are worshiped together.  

 

(The Lady of the Moon from The Gentlemen Angler.)